Retirement Healthcare Costs 20% More for Women Than Men, Study Finds

Women live on average two years longer than men and therefore must be prepared to pay 20% more for their retirement healthcare coverage, according to a recent HealthView Services report, the Wall Street Journal writes.

Longer Life Expectancy, Annual Healthcare Costs Increases, Surcharges and More

The report concludes that a retired 65-year-old woman can expect to spend more than $235,000 over her remaining years on healthcare premiums. That’s $35,000 more than men. The projections take into account an estimated 6% increase in healthcare costs annually, the Journal writes.

According to Ron Mastrogiovanni, founder and chief executive of the company, retirees can expect other out-of pocket expenses including Medicare supplement insurance for copayments and deductibles, and Medicare Parts B and D for outpatient care and prescription drugs, according to the publication.

Affluent retirees can expect additional costs, according to the publication. Singles who make over $85,000, or couples whose income exceeds $170,000, pay high surcharges on Medicare Parts B and D premiums, the Journal writes. What’s more, dental, hearing and vision care fees will add roughly $70,000 to retirement healthcare costs for both men and women, as Medicare doesn’t cover any of these, according to the Journal.

But Mastrogiovanni says that women can prepare for these costs. A 55-year-old woman can invest $25,500 at a 6% return, which can cover the last four years of her life, when it is statistically likely she will be a widow, the publication writes. If any long-term care like assisted living services might be needed, a 55-year-old woman should plan to set aside $61,200 with the same 6% return, according to HealthView Services. Long-term-care insurance can also help offset these costs, according to the Journal.

Women can also keep their modified adjusted gross income under Medicare surcharge levels by spending Roth individual retirement money instead, or funds from a health savings account, Mastrogiovanni says. Money spent from these accounts aren’t calculated to determine MAGI, he says, according to the Journal.

Additionally, married couples can wait a bit longer to claim the higher earner’s Social Security benefits, which can be taken anytime after the claimant is between the ages of 62 and 70 years and are higher the longer the spouse waits, according to Mastrogiovanni, the publication writes.

Furthermore, financial advisors say that couples can buy annuities and life-insurance policies to ensure the surviving partner can cover the bills, the Journal writes.

Summary: Women live on average two years longer than men and therefore must be prepared to pay 20% more for their retirement healthcare coverage, according to a recent HealthView Services report, the Wall Street Journal writes.

Consider the life of a chef on the road. Even when they’re not doing “research” for an upcoming project—trips that are essentially designed for overeating and drinking—they’re still likely seeking the best of what got them into the industry in the first place: damn good food.

The proliferation of low-cost airlines flying out of the U.S. means that it’s now possible to hop to Europe for as low as half the price charged by major carriers, the New York Times writes. But there’s always a trade-off — and it pays to comparison-shop, according to the publication.

Featured Contributors

Chasing snake oil and fad gurus is harmless until your journey of personal discovery becomes a platform for prescribing therapies to complete strangers. Any reasonably diligent venture capital partner should be weighing the risks.

Shkreli — who famously insulted members of Congress earlier this year but refused to testify officially over his own decision to increase the price of a life-saving pill — is now hopping at the chance to defend generic drug manufacturer Mylan.
He may even have opened the door to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where he previously cited his Fifth Amendment's right to avoid incriminating himself.
"Any chance i can come through this time and actually testify?" he tweeted Thursday in a post directed at the committee's Democrats.
All of this now paves an unlikely new friendship between Shkreli and Mylan CEO Heather Bresch.
Heather Bresch created about $15 billion in value for Mylan in the seven years since she stepped up as president of the company. A big part of that value add came from her talent for repackaging off-the-shelf drugs into bona fide blockbusters.

Donald Trump is talking about Hillary Clinton’s health, as are two doctors who havenever evaluated Clinton. They have apparently diagnosed her with all kinds of ailments using the long disproven Fox-Drudge equation.
This attention on Clinton has renewed some interest in the letter Donald Trump released last year from his personal physician.

Even as doctors enter a medical field with more paying patients under the Affordable Care Act and unprecedented numbers of job opportunities, 25 percent of “newly trained physicians” would still choose another field if they could, according to a new analysis.